Hydraulic control mechanism



May 23, 1944.

c. H. NAPIER mmuuc comoL macnmxsm Filed April 10. 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W q \s U INVENTOI? CHAR/.5514! 15a May 23, 1944. Q H H R 2,349,295

HYDRAULIC CONTROL Moms! 7 Film! April 10, 1943 2 Sheats-Sheat 2 @iuZl/Aillllllllllllllit IN l/EN T0 CHAR N P/EE 72 ofi y Potented May 23,

4 HYDRAULIC common MEG As i Charles H. Napier, Be, Md. Application April 10, 1943, Serial No. 482,1

4 Claims. (CI. 60-52) (Granted: under the w o! Mfll'ch a, 1883, as amended April 30, me; no 00 o. my

This invention relates to an improved 9.99 ratus for-controlling the operation of hydraulically actuated devices such as ship's steerin seer. gun turrets, etc.

In hydraulically actuated steering gear, for example, of the type with which the present invention is concerned, it is presentpractioeto provide on electric motor driven. variable displacement pump which is connected to a. double noting vfluid motor, the piston rod'oi the latter beinn mechanically coupled to the ship rudder.

The cunt and direction or fluid flow between the pump and motor is under control oi e, "iotlow-up" mech 1. whereby the displacement oi the pump is varied in accordance with the relative positions of the ship's steering wheel end the rudder. So long as the rudder ition corresponds to the position of the steer wheel, the displacement of the pump is maintained at new. However, when the position of the steerwheel is changed to initiate a change in course oi the ship, the lecement oi the pump is such to bring thc rudder to it new 1w tion which corresponds to the'chansed position oi I the steering wheel. esent mown follow-up" mechm comprises u seer diflerentiol receiv the movement from both the stee m; wheel d ship rudder, the output of the erentlul heind coected to e lever or other actuating device on the pump for controlling the displacement oi the letter.

it is the principal object of this invention to provide en improved control apparatus oi the general if!" described which uses fluid telemotors to set erentielly es the fol-=- low up low 1-: 2- in lieu of the rear crontiel now utilimd in the crt ior this purpoce.

aisle end other objects of my invention will u from the iolloi t de r: on when considered with the e wim the invention as t or: nuol.

lnthe drewinso in which like p in the t hp i rei entielly o plen view oi it of which is lines l-l oi in section token on Fig. 2 is nice o plan view oi the 'telemotor apparatus showing the rudder stock st e center position end the telemotors at e tion cor responding to u mlected choose in oi the rudder from its center pomtion to 1 i -Jm. right position;

lit

m. s is likewise a plan view of the telemotor.

apparatus showing the positions of the parts and the rudder after the follow-up" mechanism has operated to move the rudder from a. center position to its new extreme right position; and

Fir. dis an elevation, partly in section, of a;

ceived in u pair of hydraulic cylinders i5 and it, the letter being connected by pipes Ill 'and it to o variable displacement pump it which may be electrically driven by motor it.

p it, which supplies fluid to the cylinders it end it to operete the ram it may be of any suitable type. I prefer, however, to utilize the well mown Woterhury variable stroke type in which fluid flow through the pump is controlled by n "til piste, the letter Ming operable irom o neutrol position in one direction or the other no the many he to plece the pump on stroke. Movement or the "tilting plate" in one direction we. neutrel causes fluid to flow in one t 1 Motion through the pump while movement in the other direction causes fluid to flow through the pp in on opposite tion.

Bet oi the truction oi the pump it hove not n shown since they are well known d do not per to constitute n of my invention, one such type of pump is shown and deecri in U. S. Potent No, 1,794,946.

trotting my invention, the tilting plate (not shown) in pp it is ectuated by e, rod 20 mova l ll lit ehle reciprocollv and extending vertically outw irom the cm: ho.

The erenti ecting telemotor apparatus on 1 oi the lot ed m is contained :9. if!) n he ti. 'lelemotor cylinders 22 and Ed ere hired in epecedrcletion to each other by men-no oi u plurolity oi r it. As will be ex- 1 1 to herciter, cylinders ti and ti inperi their iuncti All? he reciprocally movnhie end such ovencent is t vided by iourthe cgvdersin e end well oi the ho ll gland hit in provid to m n fluid tidht reel between the cplindere it, 3% end'the w o, 2t, it being ded thut the it be filled with oil to lubricate theme the.

or it end it or M to by means of a shaft 29 which includes a rack gear 30. Gear 30 is meshed with a pinion gear 3| keyed to a shaft 32 which extends vertically through the top wall of housing 2 I A second pinion gear 33 is keyed to shaft 32 adjacent the top thereof and meshes with a segment gear 34 which is suitably journalled for rotation by means of a stub shaft 35 and bearing 36 carried by housing 2!. The end of segment gear 34 opposite the toothed portion thereof is pivotally connected to one end of a tie rod 31, the opposite end of the latter being pivotally connected to yoke l2.

On one of the rods 24, a second rack gear 3| is carried, Gear." meshes with pinion gear 39., the latter being keyed to a vertically extending shaft 40. Also keyed to shaft 40 is a cylindrical member 4! which is provided with a continuous grooved portion 42. As clearly shown in Fig. 4, a follower 43 rides in the groove 42 and follower 43 is directly connected to one end of a vertically extending rod 44.

v A lever 45 pivoted at a medial point thereof by apivot assembly 46 on housing 2i is provided. Rod 44 is pivotally connected to one end of lever 45 and the rod 20 (which controls the tilting plate in pump I9) is pivotally connected to the other end of lever 45. The arrangement of parts is such that when follower 43 occupies a middle portion in the groove 42, the rod 29 remains in a center position to thereby maintain the tilting plate of pump It in a neutral or off-stroke" position. Rotation however of the cylinder 4i in one direction will cause follower 43 and hence rod. 44 to move upwardly resulting in downward motion of rod 28 from-its neutral position and hence placing pump l9 on-stroke" to pump fluid therefrom in one direction. Conversely, rotation of cylinder 4| in an opposite direction effects in;

a similar mariner a motion of rod 20 upwardly from its neutral position, hence placing pump is on-stroke to pump fluid therefrom in an opposite direction. x

For controlling fluid flow to the telemotor cylinders 22 and 23, a pair of telemotor assemblies are provided and are operatedrespectively by movement of the steering wheels 4'! or 41'. Wheel 41, for example, may be located on the bridge of the ship while wheel 41' commonly referred to as the trick wheel," might be located in the aft portion of the ship where the rudder actuating ram ii is located.

Pinion gears 40, 43' keyed to shafts 48, 49' as are also the wheels 41 and 41 are adapted to mesh with pairs of rack gears 50, 50' and 5!. The latter rack gears are connected respectively to piston rods I2, 32' and, 53' which are connected to pistons I4, 54" and B3, 55'. The latter pistons operate respectively in telemotor cylinders 53, 53' and I1, 31'.

In order that either the wheel 41 or 41' may be selected to operate the rudder stock ill, a pair of two way valves 53 and is are provided in the conduit system connecting the cylinders 22 and 23 with either pair of cylinders 54, 51 and It, 31'. The pipe lines in the conduit system comprise pipe 3 between cylinder 53 and valve 5!, pipe 3| between cylinder 31 and valve 39, pipe 62 between cylinder 36' and valve 33, pipe 43 between cylin-' der 51' and valve 33 and pipes 34 and-35 between For guiding the rods 24,; a plurality of rollers the valves 33, II and cylinders 22, 23.

-ing from the spirit and scope of my inv t v 68, 81 and 33 suitably journalled in support pedestals 30, 13 and 1| may utilized if desired; 15

Operation My device operates in the following manner: Let it be assumed, for example, that the rudder stock i0, ram H and yoke i2 are initially in the positions shown in full lines in Fig. 1, in which positions the rudder (not shown) is in a center position.

course, the pilot will turn the wheel 41 an amount equal to the desired new position of the rudder,

- Referring to Fig. 2, this causes piston 54 to move downwardly and piston 55 to move upwardly to the positions shown. As piston 54 moves downwardly, fluid will be ported from telemotor cylinder 56 through pipeill, valve 53 and pipe 34 to telemotor cylinder 22. Since the segment gear 341s fixed by tie rod 31 to yoke l2 and hence cannot move, pinion gear 33, shaft 32, pinion gear 3!, rack 30, shaft 28 and pistons 21, 28 are also incapable of movement at this time. Thus as fluid is ported to cylinder 22, the latter as well as cylinder 23 will be moved to the left to the position shown in Fig. 2. The fluid initially in cylinder 23 and forced therefrom as it moves to the left is ported through pipe 65, valve 59 and pipe 6! to the interior of cylinder 51, the volume of the latfir laesing increased by upward movement of pis- Since movement of cylinders 22 and 23m the left also carries rack gear 33 to the left, pinion gear 39 will be rotated counter-clockwise to effect equal rotation of shaft 43 and the grooved cylin- As the latter rotates, the follower 43 moves from the position 0 downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4.

As previously explained, this causes downward 'motion of rod 44, rocking lever 43 about its pivot and effecting upward movement of pump rod 23.

As rod 20 moves upward, the tilting plate in pump i9 is moved from a neutral position to place the pump "on stroke.

As pump is goes "on stroke," fluid will be ported therefrom through pipe l3 into the main ram cylinder" to thlis start movement of the ram ii and yoke l2 to the position shown in,the broken lines in Fig. l, which turns the rudder stock Ill. i

Now as yoke l2 moves to the left, shaft 31 also moves to the left effecting counter-clockwise rotation of segment gear 34 until it reaches the position shown in Fig. 3. Rotation of gear 34 effects clockwise rotation of pinion gear 33, shaft 32 and pinion gear 3|. Since gear 3| meshes with rack gear 33, the latter will move to the right carrying with it the telemotor rams 21 and 23 as well as telemotor cylinders 22, 23 and rack gear 33. As rack gear 33 moves to the'right, pinion gear 39 meshed with it, shaft 43 and grooved cylinder 4| all rotate clockwise until the follower 43 again moves from the lower groove 88 defined by the appended claims.

The invention described herein may be menu In the event it is now desired to move the rudder from its center position to change its initial position and stop operation iactured and used by or ior the Government oi the United States oi America ior. governmental purposes without the payment oi any royalties thereon or therefor. 7

Having thus iully described my invention, 1 claim. a

1. Il'he combination with a ship's rudder, oi actuating means ior-said rudder, control means ior said actuating means, a double acting fluid operated telemotnr comprising a pair oi pistons connected together'ior operation as a unit, a

pair oi cylinders ior said pistons, means connecting said cylinders together, bearing means ior supporting said cylinders to permit the latter to move as a unit relative to said pistons. means connecting said rudder with said pistons so that only movement oi said rudder will eflect movement oi said pistons, means connecting said movable cylinders to said control means iorop-. eration oi the latter. and means ior admitting fluid under pressure irom a steering position to either one oi said cylinders to eiiect movement thereoi and oi said control means in one direction to initiate operation oi said rudder actuating means, movement oi said rudder then being eiiective to move said pistons and cylinders as a unit in an opposite direction to restore said control means to its initial position and stop operation oi said rudder actuating means.

2. The combination with a ship's rudder, oi actuating means ior said rudder, control means ior said actuating means. a double acting fluid 7 operated telemotor comprising a pair oi pistons,

means ior connecting said pistons together ior operation as a unit, a first rack gear carried by said connecting means, a pair oi cylinders ior said pistons, means ior connecting said cylinders together. a second rack gear carried by said cylinder connecting means, bearing means ior supporting said cylinders to permit the latter to move as a unit relative to said pistons, gearing means including a, pinion gear meshed with said first rack gear ior connecting said rudder with said pistonsso that only movement oi said rudder can eiiect movement oi said pistons, gearing means including a second pinion gear meshed. with said second rack gear ior connecting said assaaes 3. The combination with a ship's rudder. oi fluid motor means ior actuating said rudder, fluid .pumpmeans ior operating said'fluld motor means, control means operable to start and stop said pump means, a double acting fluid operated telemotor comprising a pair oi pistons. means for connecting said pistons together ior operation as a unit, a first rack gear carried by said connecting means, a pair oi cylinders ior said pistons, means ior connecting said cylinders together, a second rack gear carried by said cylina der connecting means, bearing means ior supporting said cylinders to permit the latter to move as a unitrelative to said pistons, gearingnieans including a pinion gear meshed with said first rack gear for connecting said rudder to said pistons so that only movement oi said rudder can der will be moved, movement oi said rudder then being 'eiiective to'move said pistons and cylinders as a unit in an opposite direction to restore said pump control means to its initial position and stop said pump means thereby stoplflns said fluid motor means and hence said rudder.

4. The combination with a device. oi actuating means ior said device, control nieans ior said actuating means. a double acting fluid operated telemotor comprising a pair oi pistons connected cylinders to efiect movement thereoi and ci said control means in one direction to initiate operation oi said device actuating means, move ment oi said device then being eiiective to move saidpistonsandcylindersasaunitinanopposite direction to restore said control means'to its initial position and stop'operation oi said actuaflng means iorsaid device.

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